As a DJ, Bethan Elfyn has been unearthing new music talent for more than a decade. Here she gives her predictions for some of the Welsh bands who will make it big in 2012

WITH a new year upon us, it’s time to look at what exciting new talent might be emerging from Wales in the next 12 months.

So which bands, singers, musicians and travelling troubadours will be entertaining us and turning heads with new albums, EPs and other releases in 2012?

There are three bands, in particular, which stand out for me right now, and during the past few weeks I’ve been catching up with them to find out more about what we can expect in the next 12 months.

Right Hand Left Hand

One of the buzz bands of the past few years at Cardiff’s Swn Festival has been local boys Right Hand Left Hand.

They only perform a handful of shows and all of them are in front of intense crowds, eagerly expecting the pretty unique brand of looped guitar and fierce drumming.

Playing live, they certainly draw you in. Now there’s a debut album, Power Grab, available through Soundcloud and it’s interesting to see them make the jump to recorded project.

So who exactly are Right Hand Left Hand? The duo is made up of Andrew Plain and Rhodri Viney.

They formed while on tour in Europe with another band.

“We’d just finished a show in the Vera in Groningen in the Netherlands and were drinking in the little club downstairs when we discussed the idea of doing something on our own,” says Plain.

“Slow Response by Trans Am was playing in the background so we decided to cover that song first.

“We ended up sharing a flat when we got back and one night we were watching a great Robert Mitchum movie called Night Of The Hunter. There’s a scene where he tells the story of ‘right hand left hand’ or, in other words, the battle between love and hate which he has tattooed on his knuckles.

“We decided that it was a cool band name for a two-piece so Rhodri went and booked us a gig. It wasn’t until 10 days before that gig we realised we hadn’t played a single note or used the loop station, so we got to work and wrote five songs in a week and covered the Trans Am tune.

“I’d recommend that approach to anyone – having a deadline really got us to do something rather than just talk about how great it would be.”

Having supported bands like Super Furry Animals, played the Swn Festival and recorded a debut album, I’m hoping they’ll build on this success for 2012.

Tiger Please

One band who have realised a unique idea and who we’ll be seeing more of in 2012 is Tiger Please.

Also from the South Wales rock camp, they have a really emotive sound, powerful old-skool rock vocals and a hard-working ethic.

Their latest project is going to touch people in a new way, as they’ve written their album based on stories that the public and fans have shared with them.

Singer Leon Stanford explains: “We decided to write an album almost two years ago about other people who would send their life stories in to us. I never realised how much we were taking on. It’s been very emotional but that amazing feeling you get when you play the song to the person who it’s about for the first time at live show makes it all worth it.

“At our sold out show in Clwb Ifor Bach (in Cardiff) at the end of this year, we played a brand new song to a guy called Paul, who sent in a story about what it is to be a dad, and to see his face when we played it to him for the first time made the whole experience worthwhile.

“He later told me that he had told his eight-year-old son that we were writing a song about them and his son was over the moon.

“My main highlight of this year is meeting the brilliant and brave people that have let me into their life and let us tell their story in a song. They’ve truly inspired the band with their stories.”

Tiger Please toured this year with bands like Funeral For A Friend, played the Cardiff City Stadium during the opening home game of the season and embarked on their first headline tour around the UK, as well as recording two singles with Grammy Award-winning producer Gil Norton (Foo Fighters/Counting Crows/The Pixies) and his engineer Dan Austin (Doves, Cherry Ghost etc) at the iconic Monow Valley Studios.

So definitely ones to look out for in the coming months.

Cut Ribbons

A band from Llanelli are also making waves right now after a single was released on a new label called Kissability, which is run by Jen Long from BBC Introducing in Wales.

I keep comparing them to Arcade Fire, due to the epic wall of sound they achieve live and on record and the staccato boy-girl vocals that sound so immediate and urgent.

The band say they will be releasing a new single in February and will follow up that up with a year of recording, making videos, playing gigs around the UK – and no doubt gaining fans all the time.

Have a listen to their single White Horses and you’ll see what I mean.